The Story
I've inherited an old German aluminium Haase machine from my late father.
It appears to be the smaller version of this machine if you Google "Haase Cut 2000 Professional CNC mill and engraving machine "
The original controller was not working so removed it and replaced it with TB6560, Arduino, 24v power supply and using the existing steppers.
Got it moving but the thing struggled with skipping steps and that was using a drag knife on vinyl.

Bigger is Better, right ?
Bought some new steppers 23HS9442, DM542A drivers and a 36v supply from Longs hoping that this would fix the skipping steps problem. Got it all rigged up with Arduino and the damn thing still skips.
It's like the linear rails don't slide easily enough. They don't appear to have any ball bearings so it's just like metal on metal tube with grub screws for adjustment. I've tried silicone spray to lubricate them before use and adjusted the grub screws but no joy.

Am I missing something obvious ?
Thanks
Rob